LGBT Thai teens forced to become monks by parents to turn them straight

Deer said that as his father’s only son there was incredible pressure on him to live a heterosexual life and continue the family line.

‘When I turned 12, my father spoke to me really seriously about the way I was acting. He said he was disappointed, and had decided that the only way I would be able to change my ways was to join the monkhood.

‘My parents took me to the local temple and forced me to join the monastery against my will. The minute my head was shaved I started to cry. I felt naked without my hair, as it was the only escape I had from being a boy.’

Deer was forced to stay at the monastery for the next six years before she was allowed to leave at age 18, after which she moved to Bangkok and began to live her life as a woman.